One More Time, Rose Tyler
by royslady51
Summary: As the 11th's personality fades away, it and all his knowledge is yanked away, sent hurtling across the void and into the body of the 10th's clone... the 11th Doctor finds himself in a fully Time Lord body, yes but it's 10's... A/N: I'm only adding Doctors on the character list: You already know Rose is in it from the title.
1. Living Again

Our story begins as he wakes in the medbay of the TARDIS grown from his TARDIS' coral...and with Rose weeping beside the bed.

* * *

**One More Time, Rose Tyler**

Even for him, this was passing _strange_. He knew he was in his clone, yes. He had the clone's memories from when he'd left him along with Rose in _this _Universe. He knew that in his _old _universe, his 12th form was in charge, yes...he _knew _all these things. He knew that Rose hadn't aged in the fifty or so years that she had been here...and he knew that the clone had...and he knew this because the clone had known it. He could feel some heavily guarded, blocked off areas in the clone's memories and didn't touch them. He also knew that _his _ability to heal the body had removed the evidence of those years...which Rose would surely notice once she lifted her head...and she did so the moment he lifted a hand to run his fingers through her hair.

"John?"

"No. Just _me_." The Doctor peered at her in confusion...why was Rose flinching away? "Something strange happened, very strange. I don't understand yet. I was regenerating into my 12th form and my mind, my knowledge...were suddenly here. In John. His mind died, Rose...but his body hadn't yet shut down. So, it's only me in here. I have his memories though, along with my own. Well, most of them. There are some areas that are locked away, lots of protections on them...I'll leave them alone."

She stared at him, her jaw sagging.

"We...he and I, I mean, _we _never..."

"I know."

"He didn't want to."

"I know. A woman that's a good fit for me on the TARDIS..."

"Yeah. He said." A single tear dropped from her right eye. "And when we found out I wasn't aging and he was, he was so _angry_. Wasn't long ago, really. He dove head first into all sorts of things that no human was ever intended to survive...and that...th...that...incident. Couldn't wait to _go_. To leave me."

"I know." He whispered, hurting for her. He sat up, drawing her into his arms for a tight hug. "We'll work it out, meantime, it seems this personality is in the wrong body. On the plus side, having both a me and a TARDIS on both sides of the void means I can have a bit of a chat with myself and find out what's going on."

"But what if you contact the wrong you?"

"Um...dunno. With the void separating us, though, it shouldn't be too serious."

"Okay." She handed him a few instruments and waited expectantly while he ran several tests on himself. He finally sighed.

"What?"

"There are no markers for earlier bodies. Like tree rings, each body leaves evidence of itself. It was once a way for Time Lord medical staff to count regenerations on someone that was tranced down or worse, _completely _unconscious. This body doesn't have any because it was a _clone_...which means that for all intents and purposes I'm now the First Doctor of _this_ Universe."

"So...does that mean I _won't _outlive you?"

"Probably. Yes, I _think _so."

She just looked at up into his green eyes and finally, burrowed her face into the side of his neck, trembling a little in his embrace, and that was where she stayed for most of the rest of the evening. He did lift her, once and carry her over to a couch where he made them both comfortable, but he didn't move her much. 11th had more pure empathy than 10th had and he sensed she needed the contact with a 'real' Doctor. He knew, without one word being said about it, that it wouldn't have mattered which him, not to her. _He had missed her so much..._

* * *

****TBC****


	2. Born to Run

**_Well I never did crawl and I never did toe that line_**

**_No man is a master to me I ain't that kind_**

**_I just put on my traveling shoes_**

**_If you wanna win you just can't lose the time_**

**_Or stay behind_**

_Well, I was born to run, to get ahead of the rest_

_And all that I wanted was to be the best._

_Just to feel free and be someone:_

_I was born to be fast, I was born to run._

**_Well I take the chances, sometimes I've made mistakes_**

**_But you don't get nothing unless you take the breaks_**

**_Living as dangerous as dynamite_**

**_Sure makes you feel nervous, but it makes you feel alright_**

**_Makes you feel alright_**

_Well, I was born to run, to get ahead of the rest_

_And all that I wanted was to be the best._

_Just to feel free and be someone:_

_I was born to be fast, I was born to run._

**_Nobody's gonna make me do things their way_**

**_By the time you figure it out it's yesterday_**

**_Well it comes to he who waits I'm told_**

**_But I don't need it when I'm old and gray_**

**_Yea I want it today_**

_Well, I was born to run, to get ahead of the rest_

_And all that I wanted was to be the best._

_Just to feel free and be someone:_

_I was born to be fast, I was born to run._

_****__**Born To Run**_~

_**- Emmylou Harris -**_

* * *

Summary: Three days after the Eleventh Doctor found himself living in the body of the now fully Time Lord clone of his Tenth Form, he and Rose did something that the clone had never wanted to do...at least, not with Rose. They started exploring the Alter-Earth, together.

* * *

One More Time, Rose Tyler

Chapter 2:

Born to Run

* * *

He didn't call her Tyler, though he had once out of habit and the shadow that crossed her face followed by the questions in her eyes...and the doubt had made sure he used her name after that. He couldn't bear to put that hurt on her face again. He had explained that it was a habit of his current personality and that his eleventh hadn't looked anything like his Tenth.

"I know. Found this you before I found that you, remember? Dunno if finding Tenth was a good thing. Should've just stayed with _this_ you."

The subdued tone was nothing like the Rose he remembered, and the first two days had found him having to deal with the old hurts and remembered pain he had inflicted on her, last body. What amazed him was that she still loved him...so very much.

Silently he cursed his Tenth's several personal betrayals and various abandonments of Rose Tyler. And for what? All she had ever done was love him with every breath she took. That insecurity was what made her touches sometimes take the form of light pokes, to be sure he was real, he supposed, allowing her to tug him along.

It was a different beach, this. For one thing, it was in Hawaii...and for another it was firm black sand. Rose flitted round and about him, her touch light and frequent on his bare arms as she ran back and forth grabbing various shells or took one of his hands and tugged him along. He smiled for her, watching her pleasure pleased him...but he also saw the frequent glances that checked his location...and made sure he was still there with her.

* * *

He didn't notice right away that she was moving rather quickly until he glanced down instead of at the back of her head and realized they were both hauling arse down the beach, her laughter and joy resonated through him and the Eleventh realized she'd missed running with him. In the absence of any emergency, she'd turned her need for it into play. He didn't really remember the last time he'd run so fast and hard, just for enjoyment. If he ever had. He did know he'd be doing so again...as frequently as he could manage.

Rose let out a shriek that was half startlement and half the result of landing in a deeper puddle of ocean water without warning, though she got up and exited the puddle without incident.

Imagine, just a cold ducking as a result of not watching where you were going...this...incorporating fun into running was indeed a relaxing way to spend one's morning. He chuckled at her, then yelped as she kicked a bit of water at him, sprinkling him with cold spray. Well, not cold, not here, not really, but _still_.

She just grinned at him as he flicked it away, then grabbed him around his waist for a hug that soaked him good and proper.

"ROSE!"

* * *

Later, when they got back to the TARDIS, he felt the young ship tickling at the back of his mind, wanting in. He made eye contact with Rose who just nodded. "I asked her if she minded bonding with you too, like her mama had. You without a TARDIS bond is just...kinda...gross, really. Feels strange not in a good way."

"Thank you. Doesn't feel all that great either." He answered, hugging her tightly. "Okay...new bond, new TARDIS. My first fledgling TARDIS at that. First time I've been older than my ship...and at the same time, younger, because she is everything Sexy is and at the same time, something new. Feels...odd. Good, but odd." He directed his attention to the preening ship as she let him in, letting a true bond between Time Lord and Time Ship form.

As the humming in his mind grew to normal levels, the Doctor relaxed, finally calm. He hadn't really realized why he'd been so tense. It wasn't any fear of rejection by Rose, certainly, but with the new link to the young TARDIS in his head, the imbalance that had made him uneasy had been dealt with. He glanced at Rose who had also relaxed now. Part of that, he understood, was because she knew that he wouldn't leave the TARDIS. He was still saddened by the fact she was coming up with all sorts of reasons why he might be willing to stay with her..._and not one was the right reason_.

He reached over and pulled her to him as he leaned back against the console...a console he actually liked better than her mother's had been. He heard the light giggles of pleasure from the ship as he cradled Rose against his chest. He began to speak quietly.

"I missed you so much, you know?"

"Yeah. I know."

"It sucked loving you so much, needing you with me and not being able to have you just because my Tenth body was an idiot."

"What?"

Shocked Rose was an interesting thing to see.

"I said, I love you and that my Tenth body was an idiot. If I ever get the chance to tell on him to Ninth, I will...because Ninth will beat the hell out of him for leaving you here...and I'll hold him for Nine."

"No fighting with yourself...for or against yourself."

"Rose..."

"No. You love me...that's enough. It's all I ever needed."

* * *

****TBC****


	3. Housecall

Summary: The Eleventh's attempt to contact himself lead to something unexpected...he made the contact, oh my, yes...ten times over. His current position in the Tenth's clone was beginning to make sense. Ten had felt the pull to John's body...and had resisted it. But he was here, in this universe with the rest of the 'retirees'. Eleven forbade him to contact Rose, who was still hurting so much. Someone else overheard the conversation and showed up minutes later. Eleven wasn't sure how Rose was going to take this, but he was glad to see Nine. This chapter opens part way through the initial conversation between 11th in 10 and Nine. It also picks up where With a Feather (Knock me Flat) left off.

_**WARNING: SOME foul language and adult themes may be present from this chapter forward. FOR THIS REASON, THE RATING IN THIS CHAPTER AND UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE IS UPGRADED TO 'T'.**_

* * *

**One More Time, Rose Tyler**

**Chap. Three:**

**Housecall**

* * *

"So, what you're telling, is that she went to Third, rescued _him_, who got in touch with me _so we could give her back to Ten_ and he pulls this shit...and drops her off in the Retirement Universe _without ever contacting any of me_ about it? And just leaves her stranded with a clone of himself who can't stand her? _Is this what you're telling me?_" Nine's voice was raspy with anger at Ten, pain for Rose and his eyes were shining with unshed tears.

"That's what I'm telling you. I have forbidden him contact with Rose. In fact, I told him to go look after the Delta quadrant and stay away from this part of the universe altogether. This personality is Eleven, but I'm in Ten's clone and Rose is having a really hard time, understandably, remembering that I'm not Ten. The only thing I kept from my body is my love of bow ties, fezes and my eye color." He looked at his younger self, his green eyes clouded in sorrow. "She needs you. She needs us both and possibly some of the others. I'm not as strong Eight is, in my empathy, but picking up her emotions isn't a problem. I've had her back for a week and she's getting better...most of the time she's okay, but once in a while I make an observation...and it's Ten's voice and maybe he said something similar or the clone did and it just throws her. For a while, and feeling what he's done to her hurts, Nine. _She didn't deserve that._ Tenth is...not a _healthy_ Doctor. There's something wrong with him that even the war can't explain. I mean, come on...this is _Rose_. I connected the bond four days ago, it's as strong as anyone could want...but he made her question herself enough that's she's terrified I'll change my mind."

"Like Human John did."

"Yeah."

"_Fuck_. And as much as I'd _love _to go beat the crap out of him, she needs me here."

"Yeah. She _does_."

"Where is she?"

"Kitchen. The lay out in here should be familiar."

"It is...at least as far as placements go. The decorations..."

"Mostly Rose and a little me. Since my TARDIS which is a version of your's is with 12...probably because of the way I got here, she asked Beauty to bond to me...directly. So, the little girl is getting to know me. I guess we won't see another version of Sexy until 12 gets here."

"Makes sense." Ninth sighed, "She did it to make sure you _couldn't_ leave."

"Yeah, I think so." Eleven smiled painfully. "At least in part, though she told me outright that me without a bond to a TARDIS felt gross to her...in a _really_ not good, _sickeningly_ gross sort of way."

"Yeah, it would. Dunno how she got to loving us like that, knowing us so well. But she did."

"Yeah, she did. I don't understand Ten at all...planet, family...even species...gave it all up just so she could be with us and he...I don't understand him. He's me, he's you...but I get you just fine. No problem, I just don't understand him."

"Well, you're in good company cuz **_I_ **turned into him and I don't get him at all. Let's go find Rose...I've got some snuggles that need a home."

"Yeah, I bet you do."

"Why, you want some to?"

_"Whaaaa?"_

"Oh, the look on your _face_..."

"Yeah...that's the problem, isn't it? I'm going to your TARDIS' medbay and see if she can update this body. I don't want to look like Ten. All that does is give Rose nightmares. Sexy should know what my Eleventh body looked like."

"Yes, good idea. You do that...I'll see if I can't settle Rose down." Nine nodded, then headed toward the kitchen.

_Eleven wasn't even out Beauty's doors when he heard Rose's voice, rising in disbelieving hope, he only hoped Nine would be enough. Eleven knew Rose still adored his Ninth.  
_

_**"DOCTOR? OH MY GOD...DOCTOR!"**_

* * *

****TBC****


	4. Chin, Ears and Hair

**Summary:** _Drawn by the wildly fluctuating emotions of Rose Tyler and the flare of one of his bodies as one of him formed a lifebond with some unknown female, the Beauty of the Bunch sets his TARDIS down next to his Ninth's and a much younger TARDIS just in time to see one of himself entering the other version of his TARDIS. Only his TARDIS tells him that him has personality and body mixed up..._

* * *

**Chins, Ears and Hair**

* * *

"Want some help with that? How'd you mix up personality with an earlier, from what my TARDIS tells me, body?" He smiled at his elder form. "I've screwed myself up a few times, but never quite like that. _Never_ have I mixed up a personality with the wrong body for it."

"Ah. Eight. Yeah, I can see why you'd be drawn in. And Rose just might need you, my empathy isn't anywhere near as strong now as it was when I was you."

"You lifebonded to her. I felt the flare."

"Yeah. Look, I'm gonna use Nine's TARDIS to see if I can't get this body updated. I can't use Rose's baby, Beauty isn't old enough to have a med bay that advanced. And I didn't arrive the way I should have...it was..._weird_. Not bad, just very strange, come on, you can give yourself a hand or two and I'll tell you how I got here...for one thing, I'm not dead."

"What? This is the afterlife universe...of course you're dead."

"No, started be, but something else happened. Let me clue you in on our Tenth..._unstable_, us...in that body. I don't _get _him at all and neither does Nine. Oh, I'm Eleven, by the way."

* * *

Eight and Eleven worked quietly to identify the correct body and then Eleven held still and let his younger self do what was needed to update himself. Eight wasn't happy, not with Tenth and not with the emergence of a rather vicious metacrisis that had really bad timing. Eleven was indeed still very much mortal, very much alive and very much effectively the First Doctor for this universe and that meant, of course that sooner or later he'd have another turn. He sighed as the explanation continued...and Rose entered it. By the time the First that was Eleven finished, the fires had begun to ripple over the body of the former clone and he stepped away, allowing the Tenth's form to burn away and the Eleventh's to take it's place, finally returning his elder's balance.

"You'll need the wardrobe room...your frame is much larger than Ten's was. Do you remember where she had it?"

"Yeah, yeah I remember. Beauty is only fifty years old but she's got all my bowties and fezes."

"Bow-ties." Eight deadpanned. "Fezes...Eye give me strength." He muttered, adjusting his cravat as the older him disappeared down the corridor. _"What could I possibly be thinking?"_

* * *

Nine had Rose in his arms and was already helping her ground, dumping the excess emotions. This TARDIS couldn't help her dump like his could but she hadn't been flitting, literally all over creation this time, either. It didn't take him nearly so long to stabilize her physically. Her emotions, though...that was another story...she'd wrapped herself around his torso and waist and was refusing to let go.

Not that he wanted her to, he didn't have to give her back to that git in his Tenth body this time and that meant he could take his time. He never wanted to hear that much pain and longing when Rose called his usename again. He never wanted to see her launch herself at him with that much obvious desperation again, either...flinging herself at a Doctor that she was sure of, that she knew loved her and would catch her if she fell. That's what Ten had done to her, ultimately...and that was what was unforgivable, in Nine's book.

Beauty let him know that Eight had arrived and was working on Eleven's 'housing' problem, she let him know when Eleven was in his proper body via a forced, partial regeneration and let him know when Tenth was 'on the line' having felt Eleven bond days ago and told Nine that Eleven had been refusing his calls. Nine didn't ask permission, he simply moved her to the medbay, told her he was about to sedate her because she needed the rest and he'd only be a few feet away until she woke...and then he knocked her out.

_He wanted to be able to scream at Ten in peace._

* * *

The Tenth Doctor stared at the blank viewscreen, stunned. The Afterlife Universe and the one where Rose was, was the same...that was the first shock. The second was that Eleven had somehow been pulled out of their old training universe at the moment of regeneration instead of during fade out and had been force-deposited in his old clone...his brain dead clone whose body had begun regeneration _without a mind **present**_...thus Eleven's suspicion of what, exactly, had yanked him over like that.

It made sense, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was that the human version of himself had been an abusive bastard where Rose was concerned and now Eleven, Nine and Eight were there trying to stabilize Rose mentally as well as emotionally and this news broke his hearts. He hadn't spoken to Eight yet, Eleven hadn't been accepting his calls, but Nine?

He let go of a shuddering breath as he replayed in his mind the dire promises Ninth had made against his person, if anyone caught him, Tenth, _anywhere near Rose_. He had, Ninth said, done enough damage and he was to leave her be. Nine was with her while Eight got Eleven sorted so that he looked like Eleven instead of like Tenth, which was _needed_, given that Tenth's form was giving Rose night terrors.

Ten bowed his head, shoulders drooping as the first tears fell. He wept for Rose's pain, this time, What had the clone done to her? _What the hell had __**he **__done?_

* * *

Nine looked up from his book as Eleven entered the library, now looking like he should and with Eight right behind him. He nodded at the body which held the most powerful empathic gifts. "I sedated her when Tenth called..._chewed _on him some."

"Explained things did you?"

"Yes, quite clearly." He answered firmly. "In a "don't call us, we'll call you' sort of way."

Eleven snorted. "Good." He agreed, shaking his head as he seated himself, leaving one of the more comfortable seats for Eighth. Eighth was already doing an assessment on the sleeping Rose.

"Yeah, she's going to need help to get past this. My poor little one." Eight murmured.

Nine just looked at Eleven. "Pack your TARDIS in mine and put mine in Eight's. No need for us to use all three right now and I want Rose pampered for a bit." He told Eleven.

"Makes sense." He nodded and got up to go do that. For now, it was going to be 'The Three Doctors and Rose'. "It's a damned good thing we're immune from paradox in this universe...at least, the self-inflicted ones."

"True." Eight agreed.

"Do you realize, she makes not one damned bit of distinction between any our bodies? Not a damned bit. Ask Third when you catch him up. He's met her so he's probably on his way in. She rescued him while trying to rescue herself." And Ninth explained. When he was finished, Eight just shook his head.

"Ten's _fucked_ _up_."

"Yeah. _Seriously_ fucked up."

****TBC****


	5. Walls

Summary: Eight and Rose have a chat. He isn't happy with what he finds out.

* * *

Once More, Rose Tyler,

Chap. 4:

Lonely

* * *

Eight had decided that Rose needed the solidity of firm relationships...nice strong dependable ones where she had no doubts about the people in them with her. _Nine_ had run into an unexpected roadblock with her when she asked him why he'd never warned her about regeneration and he had avoided the question.

_Eleven_ made her a little nervous still because she couldn't forget he had worn John's skin for a time...and could not escape the memories of the other things that skin had done to her that she hadn't told them about yet. She knew it didn't make sense, but that didn't matter to her gut. She did try hard and though she loved every aspect of the _real_ Doctor, she was just calmer around Eight. She had no bad memories from him, anyway.

It was in the evening of the second week after he'd joined them when he and Rose were walking leisurely along the waterline on one of the black sand beaches in the cool of the evening. The last traces of color were vanishing from the sky when he finally stopped her gently, pulled her over to a large driftwood log, seated her beside him and gently insisted that she talk to him.

"I know that Nine disturbed you...but you _do_ know he'd never hurt you. Right?"

"Yeah. It's just hard to accept that you don't trust me."

"Me, me or collective me?"

"_Either_. Nine didn't trust me enough to tell me and Ten walked away from the TARDIS because he didn't want to leave me without somewhere to stay on that abandoned ship but he didn't trust me to help him either. Eleven sent me back to Ten when I wanted to stay with _him_."

"And me?"

"Waiting for the penny to fall."

Eight shook his head slowly. "And if it doesn't?"

"It will. Always does. Even you can't hold off gravity forever. And when it does, I'm gonna get hurt." She said bitterly. "That's the way this works."

"_Rose_..."

"Still better than John, at least no fully Time Lord Doctor slaps women around. And no matter what, I wouldn't have missed it for anything. I love you so much. I just wish...'

"What?"

"Nothing. Never-mind."

"Rose?"

"It's stupid."

"Can't be that bad. Tell me." He pushed sympathy at her because he sensed this was important. He..._they _needed to know.

"Just wish you could..."

"What?"

"Love me back, someday."

Eight was frankly horrified as he pulled her into his arms. "What made you think we don't?"

"No man who loved someone would ever turn into a man like John."

"He was _human_."

"He was Ten, same memories, same man. Just a lot more _honesty_ 'cause he couldn't hide it anymore. If nothing else, no human can lie to me anymore. I catch'em at it every time." She stood a bit stiffly in his embrace, but didn't move away.

"Not quite. Close, but not quite. There _are_ some differences and unfortunately those came with the change in species. A human doesn't have even half the abilities that _we_ do. It probably made him bitter...and then when he realized that you'd changed too...in the other direction from him...I'd wager he still had my _temper_, didn't he?"

"Yeah, you could say that."

"All the temper without any of the self-control?"

"Yeah."

"I'm _so _sorry, Rose."

"So am I. I'll never be able to look at Ten again without this...wall...there. It's a great huge, fist shaped wall. And I can't get over it or around it or under it. It won't go away, ever. Never mind the universal wall. I can get past that easily enough. But I can't get past the new one. Can't even get close to it."

He gentled her down, holding her and rocking her gently for quite some time until she calmed, and then led her along the beach a bit longer. Conversation strayed from serious things and he began to point out pretty shells in the moonlight. He didn't return her to his TARDIS until she started getting tired. "How about a picnic in the jungle tomorrow? All of us?"

"Sure, sounds good." She agreed in a subdued tone.

"Okay, go get a nice hot bath. A good long one. We'll leave a monitoring speaker on so you can call out if you want company." He smiled a little. "Just make sure you have your suit _on_ when we get there this time."

* * *

"Ten's clone beat the fucking crap out of her." The words were snarled and angrily shot into the air of the library where the other two were. "She's fucking _terrified_ of the Tenth body now."

"Oh Rose..." Eleven breathed in horror.

"If I kill Ten, is it fratricide or suicide?" Nine asked Eight in a tone of voice that was much, much too calm.

* * *

Eight repeated the rest of the painful bits and left the nicer ones for Rose to share. Nine and Eleven were not happy people afterward, though they understood it.

"We're going to have to teach her the sciences so she'll understand." Nine told the other two. "It's the only thing we can do, really...she'll have to be able to see for herself."

"Just so long as she _does_ see for herself that the clone's behavior will _not_ be something she has to fear from Ten." Eleven stated firmly.

"You get to update him, Eleven. He has to know that trying to approach Rose is dangerous for her. She'd run away from him and I don't think she'll pay any attention to where she's going. We don't need her taking a header over a cliff or something. He could get her killed like that...or maimed past repair." Nine told him bluntly. "Don't ask me to be civil to that little piece of..._anyway_."

* * *

****TBC****


	6. Excursion

Summary: Exploring the tropics had never been so...educational. The question is, who's doing the learning?

* * *

**Excursion**

* * *

Rose bit back laughter as she watched her first Doctor and the _new _new Doctor rooting through a _plantain _patch, trying to locate ripe _bananas _as she scooted a bit further south to a _real _banana grove, a newly sharpened machete in hand. She knew when the sound of falling banana plant rippled through the jungle, they might come running, but in the meantime, she tugged at Eight's hand as she slipped around a large fig and into an abandoned Del Monte grove she'd found while wandering around when it was just her and the _new _new Doctor there.

"Ten foot stalks, which weigh about four hundred pounds standard, by the way, so you'll be the one carrying it back...which bear a large, dark purple, sometimes shading into maroon, tulip flower at the end, dangling upside down, with the open end toward the ground. Don't select one that isn't full unless you want to come back in a few weeks for a shorter stalk...if you want the shorter stalk, just cut the purple flower off before the full stalk has been pollinated...there's rings of tiny white flowers which actually become the individual bananas, see...that each petal of the purple one leaves as it falls off...and if you cut the purple one off, you limit the number of white flowers and thus the size of the stalk." She explained. "_This _time, though, I want a full one. Cuz I don't think your older selves know the difference between a real banana and the kind you have to _cook _to eat. The sort of grove they're _in _grows the sort you cut into slices and fry to make banana chips."

"They're in a _plantain _grove?" He chuckled. "Yes, they do know the difference in the _fruit_, but perhaps not in the plants."

"Same kind of plant...but the RNA is a bit different. Still grass, though."

_"Grass?"_

"Yup. Didn't you ever check? Same family as bamboo or the stuff most homeowners have to mow every week in summer. A banana isn't a fruit, Doctor...it's _grain_. A single, large grass-seed."

"Really. I'll have to check that...not fruit..._cereal_."

"Yup...oh look, _there's_ a good stalk. Use your screwdriver to check for banana spiders and and black tarantulas? Both will kill a human if they bite us and while there's antivenin, it swells up and it _hurts_ so I'd prefer to avoid it this time."

"Indeed." He nodded as he didn't really like the sound of that, pulling out the requested instrument and performing the scan. He then removed four spiders, relocating them safely to other, younger plants that would need the protection against predation by insects the spiders offered while Rose cut down the single banana plant whose top was bowed nearly to the ground by the weight of the stalk of ripe bananas.

"Why not just cut the stalk?"

"Grove's a bit thin on this side and like most grass, if you cut the plant, four or five more will grow in response." She drew his attention to the inside of the 'stump' of the plant...and the unmistakable odor of freshly cut grass. She also pointed out a few that had fallen on their own and the clumps of young banana plants shooting up around the basil stems of the fallen ones...much more obviously in the grasses family at that stage.

"You do seem to be correct. It's _grass_. We've been eating grass seeds. No reason to stop though, it doesn't change the benefits from the bananas which are an extremely high value food."

"Most grains _are_, Doctor." Rose replied, cutting the food stalk from the main plant and then waited for him to pick it up.

"True, _Earth _grains, at any rate. Your species has done quite well in developing ordinary grasses into foods worth far more than the originals were." He grunted as he lifted it, it _was _rather heavy. "I see what you mean about the weight...dear me. Ah well, back to my TARDIS, then. Via my elder-selves, to sport our prize. Wonder if they ever found a grove of the sort they actually_ wanted?"_

* * *

"Can you _see _her?"

"No, I can hear her though, overhead...what the devil is she doing up _there_?" Nine wondered aloud just before a full bag of something dropped and dangled by a rope a few feet away, startling all three Doctors.

"I smell ripe figs." Eight commented, eying the juice dripping from some parts of the canvas sack.

"So do I." First in Eleven nodded. "Who was it that said we were going to teach Rose how to find and gather food in an Earth jungle?"

"_Um_...that was me." Nine answered, bemused as more sacks full of figs began dropping on their ropes to dangle around them in several directions.

_So...can we assume she had to run from him? _Eight asked himselves silently. _She had to pick it up somewhere and it sounds like it wasn't from Nine or Ten, if First in Eleven can't recall it._

Nine and First in Eleven looked at each other, faces grim.

_Yeah, I think we __**can **__assume that. _Came First in Eleven's voice in both their minds. _Let's find out how good she is._

_And make sure she __**thinks **__she's just showing off._ Nine insisted, cautiously. _I want her to show us what she can do. Let's challenge her._

* * *

"So...you want me to...?"

"Show off. We want to know how much you already know, so we can then know _what _to teach you." Nine told her, hugging her around the shoulders. "You were pretty impressive today...not that you had to keep that bit about me and First in Eleven not being in the right kind of grove to yourself."

"Wanted you two to bring back some ripe stalks of cooking bananas...and you did, even if you did think they were just flattened green bananas."

"Hey, Eight _could _have told us, mind to mind, and he also kept silent...until he walked past with that huge stalk on his shoulder." First in Eleven grinned, chuckling at Nine's disgruntled expression. "_Braggart_."

"We need to know where to _start_, right?" Eight remarked, ignoring the elders. "So, tomorrow, we'll carry a couple of peck baskets each, and we'll follow you around while you go walkabout...let's see what you can harvest."

"Um, can we put it off a day? I wanted to go gathering along the shore when the tide turns tomorrow...Spring Equinox high tide is tonight and the low one follows it..."

"Good idea. Should get some nice fresh seafood that way." Nine nodded. "Both days...and as many after as you like, it's a good opportunity to stock up all three TARDIS'."

"True." First nodded. They'd agreed, the four of them, to start thinking of him that way...they had to at some point anyway.

"And maybe set up a big saltwater aquarium...as decor in the library?" Rose added hopefully, her eyes huge on her face and twinkling just a touch as all three versions of the Time Lord folded.

"Sure."

"Put it in Eight's and in Baby. It'll still be in Sexy later."

"Yeah. She'll maintain it for you. And the bigger one goes in Beauty." First told her. "And stays as a permanent fixture no matter how many times she redecorates."

"Yeah. A smaller one in your room works too, in both TARDIS', let them figure out how much space they can spare for them and when we know that, we'll know how much beach sand and ocean water to get." Eight nodded. "This is 165 BC, so the oceans are still clean and healthy."

"Wondered why we haven't seen anyone else..." Rose sort of sing-songed, making her Doctors laugh. She looked over at First and hesitated.

"What?"

"Um...I was thinking about building and keeping a..."

"Yes?"

"Vacation house...well, hut. On stilts."

"Ah. Well, sure. I don't see why not." A place where anyme and you can go to unwind, relax between adventures. Yeah. Guaranteed peace and quiet. Sort of, considering the colonies of nesting seabirds and those blasted monkeys."

"True." She smiled. "I like the monkeys. They're _cute_."

"Not as much as all that, really. I prefer our pink and yellow little human, actually." Nine told her, smiling a little.

"Best get to bed, Rose." Eight told her. "I have the notion it's going to be a long day tomorrow."

The three selves of the Doctor watched as she headed up the stairs.

"I was wrong." Nine said quietly. "The Slow Path ain't half bad, when you love the one you're on it _with_."

* * *

"I am again glad our self inflicted paradoxes aren't, here...she'd grown used to having the three of us...and doesn't want to give up any of us...until she has to." Eight told them once Rose was well out of earshot.

"Has to?"

He eyed First. "Don't be dense."

"Oh, that. Well, yes. But that will mean she'll be down to two of us after Seven."

"True. But we'll face that complication when we have to."

"And not until." Nine told them grimly. "We _plan _for it, certainly, but otherwise..."

"Agreed."

"Just so."

****TBC****


	7. Harvest the Sea

Summary: Beaches during the Spring Equinox can hold startling things...and a wealth of delicious fresh seafoods not usually available. Another him crashes _his_ version of the TARDIS near Eight's and Rose has to adjust to the presence another 'old ' friend.

* * *

_**Harvest the Sea**_

* * *

She slipped out of Eight's TARDIS before true dawn, a strip of handmade rope woven from fibre beaten from palm fronds against a flat boulder with a rock. This was a process she'd grown good at a few years before First had taken the mindlessly regenerating body of John and returned it to full Time Lord status. She's run from the part human one for years, settling into an island hopping lifestyle that kept her safe. She knew this life and for the most part, enjoyed it. The rope held a cone shaped basket firmly against her back and hip, the bottom stuffed with grasses to catch smaller clams and the like while letting the seawater drain off.

This was the beginning of a long day and she was a few hours after the turn of the tide already. in one hand she carried a clam rake, in the other a small, stone-headed mallet...she intended to take her breakfast fresh from the sea this morning. She didn't tell him she'd gone, the TARDIS was already doing that...though it would take them a bit to get going. She headed to a particular beach that she'd selected for this, long, straight and mostly flat, it held several deep rocky tidal pools that you could see the tops of at low tide most days, but couldn't reach. Today she intended to see what she could take from them...once the tide had gone far enough out. On some islands she'd gotten shallow water scallops, others had only held _sharks_...most had less dangerous, but still rarely enjoyed large fish that would be trapped there until the tide turned and covered the top so that they could leave.

By the time they caught up with her, carrying extra baskets, she had the one she wore half loaded in beautiful shells...that's why she had brought it...broken clam shells littered the impressions of her feet in the wet sand giving mute evidence to her breakfast...and notice to the lack of clams in her basket.

"_Hungry_, were you?"

She just smiled, cracked another large clam by breaking the hinge and scooped out the meat, offering it to Nine. "Taste."

He did so, eyebrows soaring. "Much better than any restaurant."

"Better from the sea, yeah?"

"Yeah."

* * *

The other two cracked open clams to try the meat and ended up jamming bits of shell into the meat.

She laughed and told them a lighter touch was needed. She showed them how to strike and in a moment each had a mouthful of fresh, raw clam meat...agreeing that it was very good. "Some things _are _just plain good, no matter the body, yeah?'

"Yeah...some things _are_." First told her quietly, eyes alight and she knew he wasn't talking about food. She blushed and slid behind the short but broad shouldered Eight in embarrassed confusion. He'd seen the scars she bore, how _could_ he want...her."

"_Calm down, Rose_." Eight told her, his hand on her elbow, exerting his Empathy to soothe her while explaining to the other two exactly what had set her off...and why. "It's _alright_."

Nine and First grew pensive, that she still wanted and loved them was clear, but the clone's varied attacks had left physical scars as well as the ones on her self-esteem and she thought herself too ugly for any him to want. Nine glanced at Eight with a silent order to take her into the MedBay and give her the injection that would cause her body to heal fully, leaving her scarless.

_Every time she bathes, she sees them in the mirror, so the next time she bathes make sure they're not there anymore. Every physical scar is a reminder of a scar the clone placed on her soul...and we can't heal one without healing both. Get rid of them. _The Navy Doctor told the Empath, before reaching behind Eight to pull Rose into his own arms, cradling her gently against himself.

"It's okay, baby." He murmured. "You're gonna be fine. We're gonna make _sure_ of that."

_"BABY?"_

"Yeah. Or Babe." He said it with all seriousness, using a variation on the pet name that wouldn't be mistaken for anything else.

"Doctor, are _you_ sure?"

"Yeah. You've seen my scars too, haven't you? Never drew back from me. We've got some ugly scars, doesn't mean we're ugly too, though, least that's what you said. Dija mean it?"

"Yeah."

"Same thing. You're still my Rose Tyler...to _me_, to any of _me_, to all of _**me**_...you're _beautiful_." He ran his fingers through her hair, "Of course we want you."

"All? Even...him."

"Next me? Yeah. Even him, maybe especially him. That me is as close to being custom made as I could manage from what First said. Designed to _belong_ to you, Rose...that's what _he_ was. But he was me, us...and he had no idea how to handle it...so of course, in _Time Honored Doctor Tradition..._"

"He handled it _wrong_." First and Eighth spoke in unison, nodding morosely.

* * *

Rose was thoughtful the rest of the morning, and somewhat quiet as well, though she filled the baskets full of her favorites and sent the Time Lord carrying it back to the stacked vessels, several times, to deliver that one and get an empty. She knew what they could lift and how far they could handle a given weight and had woven those baskets accordingly. Though most of the seafood items were individually rather small, they _were _shelled...and even small shells got heavy pretty fast when you put a lot of them in one place.

Finally, though, she'd had enough of her quiet brooding and looked change the mood a bit...simple enough to do. It involved a bit of seaweed tossed aside to cover a small but deep puddle, empty of anything but water and tripping First so that he fell in with a large SPLAT!

Her giggles rang out up and down the beach, turning the other two's heads and prompting more laughter, from them this time, as well huge grins as First rose from the little pool, covered in kelp.

She squealed and darted behind Eight when First chuckled and reached for her, causing him to grab the wrong person and drag the Empath into the water instead.

"HEY! _You're_ not Rose!"

"No kidding." Eight drawled and dunked First, before crawling out of the water. He eyed the laughing, giggling Rose from where she was now behind Nine and _he _was a good, cautious distances from his other bodies...as well as that puddle. "Well played. You just dunked me twice. Not many can say they've pulled _that_ one off."

Rose grinned, pointed at Nine's shoulder..."You really don't seem to mind all that much...from the way you're laughing." She replied, "Besides, technically, you dunked yourself the second go...looked like you enjoyed doing it too."

"Oh I _did_, even if I did miss my target...not often I can do that to another self and get away with it with no more than an additional wetting...and I was already soaked, so..." First grinned at her, as she froze looking over her shoulder at him...just as he picked her up by her waist and gently walked to deeper water with her. He _knew better_ than to drop her, so he just sat down instead and held her squalling form in his lap.

She quieted after a moment and he just held her like that. "Play is good, pranks are good, _to a point_." Was all he said, then kissed the top of her head. Behind them they heard the Northerner's voice yell in denial, then a huge splash.

"Well, you were the only one who was still dry and your leathers are still at the TARDIS...so...yeah. Your turn."

"OI!" Her Northern Doctor protested as First and Rose both joined Eight's laughter.

"We'll be okay, you and me, yeah?" First finally told Rose as they quietened down. "It'll take time on the slow path, but we'll get there, the lot of us. _Promise_."

"Yeah?"

_"Yeah."_

* * *

She looked past him, eyes widening and backed up a bit toward the surf. "You mean...that you, too? Look, I'll try. Always, try...I've always given you everything I had. I've never held anything back. But I don't know if I can do this." She pointed with her chin toward the newest TARDIS and the pinstriped, wild haired stickpin of a Time Lord coming through the open door, tears streaking frankly down his face. "But, I'll try to get past that wall. Full Time Lord, you said _he_ wouldn't..."

"No. _I_ won't. Wouldn't._ Couldn't_." Tenth told her, pain in every word. "I love you, Rose. So much...so, so much." He ignored Nine entirely, though he did see her look to Eight for reassurance, and them move to him altogether for safety. It broke his hearts to see that fear of him in her eyes and watch her launching herself at someone else...even it was just an earlier _him_.

* * *

Nine wanted to follow through on his threats but he got the feeling his elder _wanted_ a beating to make himself feel better. It was a very 'him' thing to want. Instead he simply kept Ten from following Rose. "She needs _Eight_, not you, not me _and_ not First. Let Eighth calm and soothe her first."

"That's not First, that's the me after this me."

"He's First _here_." Nine insisted, then explained. "I _was_ going to call you, and tell you about what happened, what the clone did to her and I forgot. How'd you find out?"

"The TARDIS told me...and then she brought me here before I knew what she was doing. Talk to the ship."

_"Fuck."_ First said quietly. "Let it go, no me ever wins an argument with her and you know it."

"Yeah." He groused. "Go put shorts and a t-shirt on, then get your skinny ass back down here. It's the Spring Equinox and low tide, your arrival isn't going to ruin Rose's outing, so as soon as Eight has her calmed down we're going to continue with our day. Put your TARDIS between mine and First's, we're both stacked inside Eight's...oh, and First's is actually Rose's Beauty...Rose let that us bond to her. Here, in this universe."

"Ah."

"Grab one of the stacks of empty baskets on your way out of Eight's TARDIS cuz you're gonna join the parade of food haulers...we're stocking the TARDIS', amongst other things..."

"Like trying to heal her heart and soul from that _fuckwit_ of a clone. He beat her, Ten. Beat her frequently and viciously...she's got scars from it. Mentally, emotionally and Physically."

"What? You mean my clone became a..._valeyard_?"

"Yeah, _I think so_. Might have been your clone, but he was still _us_." Nine confirmed bitterly. "And it's the only thing that makes sense, so good on First the clone's mind was gone already when he took over."

"Means that I'm a current, living Doctor though, instead of a retiree." First told Ten. "Also means you'll have this body, sooner or later, too. We need her healed before that happens though it's anyone's guess which of us gets it or when, given a 12th in one universe became the 1st in this one."

Nine huffed. "He might be the only one of us who can get her past that wall. Eight told us she called it the _Fist Shaped _one." He muttered, watching the later Doctor cringe, flinching as he bit back more sobs of pain and regret. Even so, it was Eight's firm but gentle hand that gripped Tenth a few moments later and eased him into calm.

* * *

"_Let her come to you_, okay? Don't chase her, you'll just scare her. Don't get upset if she stays pretty close to me for a while. _Remember the skill-set in this body?_ She needs me."

"Yeah, I remember."

"And so do the rest of you. Once again I am very glad we are not affected by self-induced paradoxes here." He helped Ten to his feet. "Though, at this rate, I'm tempted to just bow to the inevitable and just open a clinic for the emotionally unbalanced."

Three sets of 'OI!' were followed by a single, 'Would you?'

"Only for you and me, Rose. My methods are unusual."

_"They work fine on me."_

"Like I said." His teasing smile made the rest suspicious though none of them was willing to ask. Eight had hidden the memory of exactly how he'd persuaded Rose that he, at least, thought she was stunningly beautiful..._and Rose wasn't talking._

****TBC****


End file.
